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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29996820">Friendly Fire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JMount74/pseuds/JMount74'>JMount74</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Thunderbirds</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, mentions of injury, mentions of scars</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:15:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,934</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29996820</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JMount74/pseuds/JMount74</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There are scars on all his boys, but one in particular leads to a revealing conversation.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Friendly Fire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Womble1/gifts">Womble1</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For @womble1, whose comment on Betrayal led directly to this fic. And acknowledging the help of @gumnut-logic, @tsarinatorment and @sugar-fiend for their input and advice.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was Scott’s fault.</p>
<p>He was ready for his run and had decided to grab a bottle of water, so he cut through the lounge to the kitchen, unaware that his father was already up.</p>
<p>‘Good god, son!’ Jeff exclaimed, what on earth happened to your leg?’ Scott hoped that his startle had not been too obvious. He glanced down at the near invisible scar, surprised that his dad had noticed it. It was one of his longest at almost 20cm and had one of the weirdest explanations. </p>
<p>‘Tell you what, Dad, I’ll go for my run and meet you back here and we’ll chat then.’ Jeff nodded, knowing that Scott would only delay a run if there was a rescue. </p>
<p>But his curiosity soared. </p>
<p>By the time Scott got back from his run, Gordon was up and in the lounge sitting with his dad, still slightly damp from his morning swim. John was floating nearby deep in conversation with dad, and Scott knew that there was no hope of seeing either Virgil or Alan this side of 11 o’clock.</p>
<p>Once everyone had settled drinks in hand Jeff asked Scott again ‘what happened to your leg then, son. I really would like to know.’ Scott shared a look with John and Gordon, and Jeff frowned. There was obviously something more going on here then he realised he put his cup down lean back and folded his arms, waiting patiently.</p>
<p>‘Well, dad,’ Scott said, ‘this little scar of mine is the result of a, er, yeah, a friendly fire incident.’ Jeff looked at his son incredulously. There was definitely something going on here, something his son was reluctant to tell him. He cocked an eyebrow and waited patiently. </p>
<p>Scott sighed. It looked like he was not getting out of this one. ‘Well, this little scar, this is a result of a malfunction with my grapple gun.’ Jeff’s other eyebrow rose to mirror its partner. ‘Yeah. You see I was training Alan, and we were at the ranch, and there was a situation. And Alan tried to grab my grapple gun off my hip.’</p>
<p>Gordon stepped in here to defend his partner in crime. ‘It wasn’t Alan’s fault! He was trying to save Virgil!’ Scott nodded distractedly. ‘Yeah yeah, you’re right Gordon, it wasn’t Alan’s fault. It’s just that as he tried to grab the gun off my hip he accidentally fired it, and it scraped down my leg and pinned my foot to the floor.’</p>
<p> John added, ‘Virgil did a really good job stitching that, you can barely see it.’ Jeff nodded. ‘Do you all have training scars like this then?’</p>
<p>Gordon broke out into a huge grin. He shared a look with his two older brothers and back to his father. ‘You better get comfortable, dad, because we have quite the story to tell you. How would you like to hear them? In date order or in brother order?’</p>
<p>Scott and John both rolled their eyes at their younger brothers antics. Jeff side. ‘Lots of these then between you are there?’ The three boys nodded. ‘You could say that, dad,’ said John. Scott nodded. ‘Maybe we should wait for Virgil to get up before we start talking about him.’ Gordon lent forward. ‘Nah. By the time Virgil gets up we could’ve finished me!’</p>
<p>‘Before we actually go through all this, I have to ask: how old was Alan before you started training him up? I mean, I never thought I’d see Alan flying until he was 18, but he’s obviously been doing it a lot longer.’</p>
<p>John and Scott glanced at each other. This was one area they had all disagreed on – Alan most of all. ‘When you, er, disappeared, Scott brought Alan home immediately. We all agreed it was the right thing to do, and he’s been home-schooled ever since.’ John paused, and Scott took over. ‘We didn’t do any training with him until he could ace the sims. And he was really good – beat everyone’s scores. So we began including him in the equipment training at the ranch when he was about 14. He was 15 the first time he took Three out.’</p>
<p>Scott waited. This had been a topic he had hoped would never have come up, and he was sure his father would have some choice words for him. But to his surprise his dad just nodded. ‘you had your reasons, and they obviously worked out well.’ The boys looked at each other. The old Jeff would have torn them down a strip, and this new version of their father was taking some getting used to. But it was nice to have affirmation.</p>
<p>Gordon was getting impatient. He was literally bouncing on the seat. Jeff rolled his eyes fondly. ‘Gordon, do you want to get the ball rolling?’ he invited.</p>
<p>His son responded by lifting his shirt and showing a scar around his side. ‘I got this beauty from Alan as well,’ he beamed. ‘He dropped on oxygen tank on the floor, knocking off the top, and it torpedoed me. Flung me across the room and into one of Four’s fins. You should have seen it, Dad, the bruising was spectacular!’ Jeff sighed at the inappropriate enthusiasm his son was displaying. Yet that was Gordon all over, and he wouldn’t change him for anything!.</p>
<p>‘Now this one,’ Gordon continued, now pulling his shirt off and showing a patch of rough skin along his left shoulder, ‘this one I got from Virgil. Man tackled me to the ground when he’s seen…you know what? I can’t remember what he’d seen, but he knocked the wind right out of me, and we skidded across the gravel. Damn, he was a great quarterback.’ </p>
<p>Scott remembered that one, but it was a different voice that answered. ‘You were about to be turned into fish food if I hadn’t. You couldn’t see the iron girder heading for you, but I could.’ Virgil joined Gordon on the couch, and Scott grinned at him. He already had his giant mug of coffee in hand. ‘What are we discussing?’ he asked. Gordon replied. ‘Dad wants to know about our friendly fire injuries.’ Virgil took a deep draught. ‘Oh. Ok.’ was all he said.</p>
<p>There was a pause as Virgil drank, then he suddenly clipped his brother around the head. ‘Hey!’ his brother yelped, ‘what was that for?’  Virgil downed the remains of his coffee. ‘That was a rescue. It doesn’t count.’ Gordon grumbled his reply, then turned to his dad. ‘Virgil’s got the weirdest scar story!’ He sat back, apparently triumphant.</p>
<p>Jeff’s eyes fell on his middle son. Virgil had the good grace to look embarrassed, but he took the prompt in good grace and showed his dad the side of his head. At first Jeff couldn’t see anything, but then, right beside the hairline, was a thin silver mark extending a good 5cm along his forehead.</p>
<p>‘It was all Gordon’s fault,’ Virgil started. Jeff glanced at his unrepentant fish. ‘It was early, and I’d just got up. I’m coming into the kitchen to grab my first coffee when suddenly all I can hear is ‘pop, pop, pop.” I had no idea what was going on, and I’m still asleep, so I dove for cover.’ Jeff sighed. ‘I caught the side of the cupboard as I did, resulting in this.’ Scott cleared his throat. ‘You’re forgetting the two hours you were unconscious and the week-long concussion that resulted.’ Virgil glared at him.</p>
<p>‘And there’s that time Alan dropped you down the mountain,’ John helpfully chipped in. Jeff stared at his boys. ‘In fairness, Scott got more scars from that incident than I did,’ Virgil retorted. Scott looked distinctly uncomfortable, and Virgil wasn’t inclined to elaborate, so Jeff let that one drop, glancing at John to see him grinning widely. ‘Ookaaay,’ he said. ‘Maybe, John, it’s your turn to share.’ John’s face immediately fell.</p>
<p>It was Gordon who got that ball rolling too. ‘John’s got a great mini scar under his chin, Dad.’ Jeff squinted, but he couldn’t see anything, the hologram just wasn’t detailed enough for such a small detail. Jeff looked back at Gordon, who held his hands up. ‘Nothing to do with me, Dad. Not this time.’ And immediately he screwed his face up. Damn, he hadn’t meant to say that, and his dad would have picked up on that.</p>
<p>Jeff stored that away for later. ‘Well, John. Share,’ he asked. John sighed. It was not long after EOS came on board. At first, she had a habit of shooting bagels at me. Then one time, while she was doing that, I got distracted and slipped on one, ended up catching my chin on the corner of the unit. EOS doesn’t do it so much anymore.’ Scott chuckled. ‘She was complaining about the blood getting into her processors for days.’</p>
<p>‘Of course, John’s worst scar was also curtesy of Alan.’ Jeff was starting to notice a pattern. ‘You remember how noodlely John can get when he returns to earth sometimes? Well, one time we’d invited Brandon Berrenger over, and the two, being the adrenalin junkies that they are, had decided to skateboard down that volcano path you had carved. Anyway, Scott here immediately veto’s that idea, and they go off in a huff. John comes out of his room and into the lounge, and next thing we know he’s in a pile in the middle, wrapped around the table. He’d stood on Alan’s discarded board and gone flying.’</p>
<p>Jeff pinched the bridge of his nose. Thank goodness Scott had inherited some common sense! Although, he had some very clear memories of the kind of daredevil stuff his eldest had got up to that his brothers didn’t know about…</p>
<p>Gordon got off the couch and walked behind the other one, placing his hands on Scott’s shoulders. ‘Of course, biggest brother here has the most scars.’ Scott turned slightly pink. He hated talking about himself. Gordon removed his hands and started counting off his fingers.</p>
<p>‘The one where Alan stabbed you in the calf with the ice pick while you were climbing. Then the time when he was learning to grab the grapple gun from his belt and fire quickly, only he’d put it in backwards – still haven’t worked out how he’d done that – and shot you in the hip. Then the time you were teaching him to use the jet pack and he careened into you, causing you to hit that tree at speed. And what about…’ </p>
<p>‘That’s enough, Gordon, Scott growled. He didn’t want it to sound like Alan was so accident prone, but he was just a teenager, it wasn’t anything that the others hadn’t been through already. Gordon replaced his hands on Scott shoulders.</p>
<p>‘What’s the matter, Scott?’ he said innocently, batting his eyelashes. In reply Scott reached back, grabbing Gordon’s elbows and heaved him over the couch and onto the floor, where Gordon lay for a moment in shock.</p>
<p>Not as much shock as his dad though. For when Scott had reached back his t-shirt had ridden up and there was a large circular scar on his abdomen. Jeff knew a stab wound when he saw one. But he had seen the look on Scott’s face and knew that he’d had enough of telling stories, so he left it for now. There would be plenty of time for that later.</p>
<p>Instead, Jeff sat back, basking in the enjoyment of Scott and Virgil sitting on top of Gordon and tickling him to death while John looked on, laughing. He’d missed his boys so much.</p>
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